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Integrating Machine Learning Into Language Documentation and Description
At least 40% of the world’s 7000+ languages are believed to be in danger of disappearing from human use by the end of this century. Many languages will disappear with almost no record of their existence because efforts to document and describe these languages are encountering an “annotation bottleneck” at early stages of analysis and annotation. Current annotation methods are too slow and expensive to counteract the pace of language endangerment and loss. Annotation could be sped and improved by machine learning. However, state-of-the-art supervised machine learning depends heavily on large amounts of annotated data.
This dissertation explores how to train supervised machine learning systems for morphological analysis during language documentation and description. The systems are applied to nine languages. The research investigates ways that linguists and NLP scientists may want to adjust their expectations and workflows so that both can achieve optimal results with endangered data.
New methods for tasks in morphological analysis are explored. First, various approaches to automating morpheme segmentation and glossing are compared. Second, a new task is presented for learning morphological paradigms and automatically generating new morphological resources: IGT-to-paradigms (IGT2P). Third, the impact of POS tags on segmentation, glossing, and paradigm induction is examined, showing that the presence or absence of POS tags does not have a significant bearing on the performance of machine learning systems. The results indicate that Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems could be successfully integrated into the documentary and descriptive workflow. At the same time, the relatively high accuracy achieved from noisy field data with little or no additional human annotation hints that NLP may benefit from limited documentary linguistic data which may be the only or largest linguistically annotated resource available for some languages.</p
Adposition and Case Supersenses v2.5: Guidelines for English
This document offers a detailed linguistic description of SNACS (Semantic
Network of Adposition and Case Supersenses; Schneider et al., 2018), an
inventory of 50 semantic labels ("supersenses") that characterize the use of
adpositions and case markers at a somewhat coarse level of granularity, as
demonstrated in the STREUSLE corpus (https://github.com/nert-gu/streusle/;
version 4.3 tracks guidelines version 2.5). Though the SNACS inventory aspires
to be universal, this document is specific to English; documentation for other
languages will be published separately.
Version 2 is a revision of the supersense inventory proposed for English by
Schneider et al. (2015, 2016) (henceforth "v1"), which in turn was based on
previous schemes. The present inventory was developed after extensive review of
the v1 corpus annotations for English, plus previously unanalyzed genitive case
possessives (Blodgett and Schneider, 2018), as well as consideration of
adposition and case phenomena in Hebrew, Hindi, Korean, and German. Hwang et
al. (2017) present the theoretical underpinnings of the v2 scheme. Schneider et
al. (2018) summarize the scheme, its application to English corpus data, and an
automatic disambiguation task
Mental Health, Social and Emotional Well-Being, and Perceived Burdens of University Students During COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Germany
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting everyoneâs daily life in
unknown measures since its outbreak. Nearly all Universities around the globe were
affected. Further, young people and University students in particular, are known to be
vulnerable for developing mental disorders. This study aims to examine the mental health
social and emotional well-being and perceived burdens of University students during
COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Germany.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and anonymous online survey
among University students assessed mental health status with standardized measures
(depressive symptoms, alcohol and drug consumption, and eating disorder symptoms),
attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and perceived burdens, and social and
emotional aspects of the pandemic (social support, perceived stress, loneliness, and
self-efficacy).
Results: In total, N = 3,382 German University students participated. Nearly half of the
students (49%) reported that they are worried or very much worried about the COVID-19
pandemic. The majority supports the governmental lockdown measures (85%). A Patient
Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) sum score of 10 or above, indicating clinically relevant
depressive symptoms, was reported by 37% (n = 1,249). The PHQ-9 sum score was on
average 8.66 (SD = 5.46). Suicidal thoughts were indicated by 14.5%of the participants.
Levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly for the different self-rated income
changes during the pandemic (increase, decrease, no change in income). Further,
levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation differed significantly for students
from different faculties. Multiple regression analyses revealed that not being a parent,
having no indirect social contact one or two times a week, higher perceived stress,
higher experienced loneliness, lower social support, and lower self-efficacy significantly
predicted higher scores of depressive symptoms, also higher hazardous alcohol use,
and higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. Other aspects of lifestyle such as social
and cultural activities, dating, and hobbies were reported to be negatively affected during
the pandemic.
Conclusion: The present study implies that University students are vulnerable and due
to elevated depressive symptoms at risk, being hit hard by the pandemic, but are in
general coping adaptively. Low-threshold online interventions promoting help-seeking
and also targeting various mental health conditions might bridge the gap the COVID-19
pandemic opened up recently
Possible Consequences for TGF-β1 Signaling
Glycosaminoglycans are known to bind biological mediators thereby modulating
their biological activity. Sulfated hyaluronans (sHA) were reported to
strongly interact with transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 leading to impaired
bioactivity in fibroblasts. The underlying mechanism is not fully elucidated
yet. Examining the interaction of all components of the TGF-β1:receptor
complex with sHA by surface plasmon resonance, we could show that highly
sulfated HA (sHA3) blocks binding of TGF-β1 to its TGF-β receptor-I (TβR-I)
and -II (TβR-II). However, sequential addition of sHA3 to the TβR-II/TGF-β1
complex led to a significantly stronger recruitment of TβR-I compared to a
complex lacking sHA3, indicating that the order of binding events is very
important. Molecular modeling suggested a possible molecular mechanism in
which sHA3 could potentially favor the association of TβR-I when added
sequentially. For the first time bioactivity of TGF-β1 in conjunction with sHA
was investigated at the receptor level. TβR-I and, furthermore, Smad2
phosphorylation were decreased in the presence of sHA3 indicating the
formation of an inactive signaling complex. The results contribute to an
improved understanding of the interference of sHA3 with TGF-β1:receptor
complex formation and will help to further improve the design of functional
biomaterials that interfere with TGF-β1-driven skin fibrosis
Increasing Antibacterial Efficiency of Cu Surfaces by targeted Surface Functionalization via Ultrashort Pulsed Direct Laser Interference Patterning
Copper (Cu) exhibits great potential for application in the design of antimicrobial contact surfaces aiming to reduce pathogenic contamination in public areas as well as clinically critical environments. However, current application perspectives rely purely on the toxic effect of emitted Cu ions, without considering influences on the interaction of pathogenic microorganisms with the surface to enhance antimicrobial efficiency. In this study, it is investigated on how antibacterial properties of Cu surfaces against Escherichia coli can be increased by tailored functionalization of the substrate surface by means of ultrashort pulsed direct laser interference patterning (USPâDLIP). Surface patterns in the scale range of single bacteria cells are fabricated to purposefully increase bacteria/surface contact area, while parallel modification of the surface chemistry allows to involve the aspect of surface wettability into bacterial attachment and the resulting antibacterial effectivity. The results exhibit a delicate interplay between bacterial adhesion and the expression of antibacterial properties, where a reduction of bacterial cell viability of up to 15âfold can be achieved for E. coli on USPâDLIP surfaces in comparison to smooth Cu surfaces. Thereby, it can be shown how the antimicrobial properties of copper surfaces can be additionally enhanced by targeted surface functionalization
Respiratory morbidity in preschool and school-age children born very preterm and its association with parents' health-related quality of life and family functioning
The purpose [CMC1] of this study is to describe [CMC2] the prevalence and severity of respiratory symptoms in children born very preterm and to assess their association with parentsâ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and family functioning. We conducted a cross-sectional study and recruited children born less than 32 weeksâ gestation between January 2006 and December 2019, in the greater Zurich area, Switzerland. Between May and December 2021, parents were invited to complete an online survey for their preterm child and for a control term born (âĽâ37 weeksâ gestation) sibling aged 1 to 18 years. We used a validated questionnaire to assess respiratory symptoms and the
Pediatrics Quality of Life Family Impact Module (PedsQL FIM) to assess parentsâ HRQoL and family functioning. The survey was completed for 616 very preterm children (99 with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)) and 180 controls. Girls made up 45% (46% in controls) of the sample, and 63% (60% in controls) of participants were aged 6 to 18Â years (school-age). Very preterm children reported a higher risk of respiratory symptoms than controls, especially preschoolers and those with moderate-to-severe BPD. Parents of children with âmildâ and âmoderate-severeâ respiratory symptoms had on averageââ3.9 (95%CI:ââ6.6 toââ1.1) andââ8.2 (â11.2 toââ5.2) lower PedsQL FIM total score, respectively, than parents of children with no symptoms. The same pattern was observed after stratifying by age categories. [CMC1]LE: Please check if the edit to the sentence âThe purpose of this study is to...â retained its intended meaning. Otherwise, please amend. [CMC2]LE: As per journal style, abstract should be unstructured and should end with a conclusion as a new paragraph. Thus, the other headings were removed. Please check if appropriate.
 Conclusions: Our study suggests that respiratory morbidity in very preterm children has a negative impact on parentsâ HRQoL and family functioning, even beyond the first years of life.
What is Known:⢠The burden of respiratory morbidity associated with very premature birth is high and last far beyond the neonatal period.⢠Respiratory morbidity contributes to lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in parents of very preterm children in early infancy.
What is New:⢠Respiratory morbidity in very preterm children has a negative impact on parentsâ HRQoL and family functioning beyond the first years of life.⢠Parents of very preterm children with moderate and severe respiratory symptoms are the ones who report lower scores, both for preschool and school-age children
Efficacy of Externally Paced Training on Pain in Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis
Tendinopathy is a common condition with treatments focused on local tissue adaptations. Externally paced loading programs are designed to cue (visually, auditorily, or temporally) a person as to when to perform an exercise repetition during a set of repetitions. Externally paced loading programs propose central and peripheral changes with tendinopathy but conclusions regarding their efficacy on pain outcomes remain limited. Our review seeks to explore the efficacy of externally paced loading as a method to reduce self-reported pain in tendinopathic conditions. An electronic database search was conducted of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and CINAHL databases. A total of 2,104 studies were identified after a preliminary search; four reviewers narrowed the selection to seven articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Articles selected for review (patellar = three, Achilles = two, rotator cuff = one, and lateral elbow tendinopathy = one) were randomized control trials assessing the externally paced loading programs\u27 efficacy on tendon pain compared to the control; all were included in the meta-analysis. This review identified no superiority in externally paced loading compared to alternative treatment. There were potential population differences between non-athletic and athletic populations as identified with subgroup analyses. Current activity levels, region of tendinopathy, and chronicity of symptoms may explain the variability of findings. There is little clinically significant evidence to support the use of externally paced loading programs for reducing tendon pain over standard clinical care based on a low level of certainty which is based on the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) of articles included in the review. Clinicians should interpret outcomes between athletic and non-athletic participants with caution as further high-quality studies are required to confirm specific clinical outcomes in these populations
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